


A Promise Broken by Fate

by RabbitsAreAwesome



Series: whumptober 2020 [9]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: After the Post-Timeskip Battle at Gronder Field (Fire Emblem), Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Gen, Gronder was a terrible experience for everyone, M/M, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Whumptober 2020, for the greater good, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:20:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26925739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RabbitsAreAwesome/pseuds/RabbitsAreAwesome
Summary: The once beautiful and secluded fields of Gronder were drenched in the blood of men and women who were dragged into a battle of ideals. The fields once grassy and full were covered in the bodies of the fallen. The trees that were full of leaves were lit aflame and the heat and glow and ash created a smog that made visibility low. It was a disaster. A real hot mess. It was former friends and classmates stuck in a three way battle and no one was going to remain unscathed. They would either suffer from the physical blows forced upon their bodies or the guilt of striking down those they once knew.Sylvain hoped that he could make it out of this one. He loved his kingdom. It was a real shit show sometimes but it doesn’t mean that he didn’t have fond memories of rolling in the dirt with three other kids.   So, he stayed and fought with the Kingdom even though Dimitri was a shadow of his true self. Even though he became the beast that Felix always said he was.Sylvain was still going to stand by his king. He didn’t wouldn’t forget the vows he took to defend the man he called a friend. It didn’t mean that Sylvain was eager to die.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Sylvain Jose Gautier, can be read as gen - Relationship, implied Felix/Sylvain - Relationship
Series: whumptober 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950856
Kudos: 3
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	A Promise Broken by Fate

The battle raged on. The once beautiful and secluded fields of Gronder were drenched in the blood of men and women who were dragged into a battle of ideals. The fields once grassy and full were covered in the bodies of the fallen. The trees that were full of leaves were lit aflame and the heat and glow and ash created a smog that made visibility low. It was a disaster. A real hot mess. It was former friends and classmates stuck in a three way battle and no one was going to remain unscathed. They would either suffer from the physical blows forced upon their bodies or the guilt of striking down those they once knew. 

Sylvain hoped that he could make it out of this one. He loved his kingdom. It was a real shit show sometimes but it doesn’t mean that he didn’t have fond memories of rolling in the dirt with three other kids. It doesn’t mean he didn’t miss the moments when Felix would come running up to him, tears in his eyes as he cried about something or other. It didn’t mean that Sylvain didn’t love the mess of his family (it was a sort of love that lay deep in under the surface of scars and bruises but Sylvain couldn’t find it in himself to truly _hate_ everything). So, he stayed and fought with the Kingdom even though Dimitri was a shadow of his true self. Even though he became the beast that Felix always said he was. 

Sylvain was still going to stand by his king. He didn’t wouldn’t forget the vows he took to defend the man he called a friend. It didn’t mean that Sylvain was eager to die. 

Staring across the field at Felix, made him think that maybe he would still meet his maker. He never understood why Felix joined the Professor and the Golden Deer (he at first thought that maybe it was to get away from Dimitri, but even after the fall of the Monastery Felix found his way to the Alliance). Sylvain always said out loud, that it was cause the Professor truly gave Felix a challenge. Their spares were always long and exhausting just watching, but Felix always had a look of satisfaction when they were over. Sylvain just didn’t want to think, he didn’t want to believe that maybe, just maybe, he was on the wrong side of the battlefield. 

The battle began and Sylvain noted that the Golden Deer were attempting to remain neutral. Sylvain almost wished he could do the same, but Dimitri ordered the heads of their enemies and so he would provide. His lance pierced through an Imperial swordsman and he ripped his lance out of the body. 

He continued to weave a path of destruction through the enemies. Sylvain noticed a flash of yellow and had to avoid a sword that nearly pierced his side. His lance made contact with the body. It seems the Alliance was no longer able to remain neutral. Sylvain was merciless. His lance pierced body after body. His magic burned and cut apart flesh. He was a whirlwind of attacks. 

He launched a ragnarok at a figure that was tearing through Empire and Kingdom soldiers in equal fervor. He couldn’t see if it hit as he immediately had to strike at the other forces that were closing in. He whirled around to the only other figure left around him. 

His eyes widened as he took in the familiar and yet different figure of his childhood friend. Felix. It had been what, five years, since he saw him. The last time he looked upon his friends figure was the initial attack on the Monastery and that was in the midst of battle. He hadn’t heard anything about the fact of his friend until Rodrigue had sent letters to the Gautier estate asking for his son that Sylvain realized that Felix was not with the Kingdom. 

It seemed that fate would not be kind to the two of them. 

_Our promise would not be kept it seems._

“Felix.” 

“Don’t Sylvain.” 

“We don’t have to do this.”

“You see the boar don’t you. He’s mad. Nothing more than a beast and yet you still fight with him. I didn’t take you for an idiot.” 

“Dimitri is mad yes, but he can stop her. The Empress. He can win.” 

“Hah! It seems you are a bigger fool than I thought. You know just as well as I do that you can’t win a fight against someone like her unless you were at your best.” 

Sylvain didn’t know how to defend Dimitri further. The children of Faerghus were practically born wielding weapons. They were trained with swords and lances and axes before they ever held a quill. They learned horseback riding before they learned reading. 

They mastered the ways of fighting. So Sylvain knew that Felix was right. Dimitri couldn’t win the way he was now. 

“I believe in the Kingdom Felix, it’s my home.” 

“The home that abused you and made you feel less than worthy. That’s the home you fight for.”

“I fight for the home that we grew up in. I fight for the home whose fields we rolled in, and where our promise was made.” 

“Tch. Don’t go sentimental on me. That promise means nothing now.” 

Sylvain felt a sting of hurt that spread out from his heart and spread through every portion of his body. If he wasn’t looking at Felix now standing with his sword drawn and glaring at him, then maybe Sylvain would have been able to realize that the words were just a deflection. It was the way Felix coped with things that made him uncomfortable. Biting, chilling words that held no truth. 

Now though, Sylvain took that as a means for him to raise his lance against his closet bond. 

“Hate me if you must.” 

The two childhood friends charged at each other. Each clash of their blades sent shocks throughout their bodies. The magic that they also threw at each other sparked and clashed and exploded in glorious union. It was a battle that would be memorialized for generations to come. 

It was intense. Here in this moment, it was not two lives fighting for someone else’s beliefs. These two warriors were battling for their own pride. They were battling against the bond that tied them together for years. They were fighting against a promise made and cherished. They were battling fate itself. 

They knew only one could make it out alive. Neither were willing to lose to the other. 

They broke apart for a singular moment. In that moment thousands of thoughts raced in Sylvain’s head. 

_One of us will die here. One of us will die and our dreams shattered. Dimitri is a broken man now. I can hear his tormented yells from here._

_How can I strike you down? How could you expect me to do this? I really can’t do it. Can I?_

_Maybe the world I wished, maybe my dreams, would be better off in your hands._

_I can’t take your life if mine will be lost in the end._

_Take me instead._

The two natural born warriors charged at each other one last time. 

Sylvain could see an opening, the perfect spot for his lance’s superior reach to strike. He didn’t take it. His blow glanced off Felix’s side and he felt the telltale sign of a sword in his gut. He fell off his horse from the force and his back hit the dirt. 

Felix had followed his momentum and was kneeling next to him hand still on the handle. Sylvain watched as his hand fell and he stayed there motionless. 

He looked at Sylvain, there was an anger and yet a sadness there at the same time. 

Felix’s eyes welled up with tears. 

“You went easy on me didn’t you.” 

“You left that opening on purpose right? Didn’t think you’d go easy on me.” Sylvain got out between coughs. 

“You really are an idiot aren’t you.” It was a statement of fact. 

“Heh, I guess I am.”

Sylvain smiled. 

“Keep fighting Felix. I’ll be with you always.” 

Sylvain barely registered a single tear dropping on his cheek before he couldn’t feel anything at all. 

Felix stayed by his friend’s body as the battle around him raged on. 

The screams and raging fire covered the sound of his sobs. 

**Author's Note:**

> Day 9 done! It's been a fun journey so far. This really hurt. In my first playthroughs of every route I refused to recruit any of the other houses characters so I hadn't separated anyone, but in this story it sucked having to have Sylvain and Felix fight each other especially with their paired ending. This is partially based on a tumblr post that I haven't been able to find again to link it but it's heartbreakingly beautiful and I wanted to recreate that in words somehow and so here it is. I hope you all enjoy and see what happens in the next few days!


End file.
